


Worlds of Thought

by spaghettikills



Category: The Walking Dead, Twd - Fandom, Walking Dead
Genre: Desus - Freeform, Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn, friends to boyfriends, so awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-27 18:53:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10039832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaghettikills/pseuds/spaghettikills
Summary: takes place after 7x10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi !!! this is my first ever fic so.. aH im sorry if its bad i just holpe you guys like it!! also this will be a series!!!! i'm hoping for like 20 chapters or maybe more idk yet

Chapter 1

daryl reached the gates of hilltop, it was the middle of the night and far too dark to see who was standing watch.

"hey you stop right there!" a voice he knew shouted

"its daryl." he huffed back. After moments of silence the gates opened, revealing a very pissed off sasha.  
" daryl what the hell are you doing here what happened?!" she said as daryl trudged through the gates.  
"didn't wanna be at that circus no more. only person to talk to was a damn tiger" he snorted. sasha sighed with a smile as she led the way to the Barrington house.  
"maggie is going to be seriously pissed, you're lucky she's asleep or else she would kick your ass and wake up the whole place." she waved her finger at him as they walked up the steps "Jesus is in the library he's always up late reading, i'll have to ask him if there are any rooms or trailers open for you."

paul was asleep, curled up on an old vintage couch in the library, book in hand. he was barefoot, wearing a loose sweater and rolled up sweatpants. god he really did look like some hippy, daryl thought. paul woke with a start when daryl and sasha entered the room.  
"did we wake you?" sasha asked  
"no no! i was just dozing off im fine!" paul rubbed his eyes doing a double take when he saw daryl.  
"daryl why are you here did something happen at the kingdom is everything alright?" he jumped to his feet and made his way to them panicking  
daryl could see the exhaustion in his eyes, which were surrounded by heavy bags.  
"nah, jus uh.. wanted to uh.. everything's fine"  
daryl tried to make a reasonable excuse. He honeslty jsut wanted to be home, as close as that could be. he missed his family and after being separated for so long and being held under the painful wrath of negan, he just needed to be home. he also needed to talk to maggie. they'd shared an embrace when him and paul first got back to hilltop but daryl couldn't stand the weight of what had happened to glenn.  
"o-oh um okay" paul looked at sasha and raised an eyebrow  
"he needs somewhere to stay" sasha said with a smirk and looked at daryl. sasha knew paul liked daryl and loved getting under his skin about it  
"don't you have an extra room?" sasha smirked

he looked at her and coked his head, giving her a look of 'sasha im totally going to get you back for this, you ass'  
"well we're currently full in the house and all the trailers are full it might be a little cramped in sasha and maggie's place.." paul started,"but if you want.. i do have an extra room in mine? only if you want though." paul turned to looked at daryl with wide eyes  
daryl grunted, "thas fine." though he really wanted to be close to maggie and them, paul's place was fine. he didn't fully trust the nutjob yet but, paul was a nice guy, well put together, and a hell of a leader and he had gone all the way to the sanctuary to help daryl, he was grateful for that.  
daryls only worry was that paul would hear his night terrors. but knowing he spent his nights in the library avoiding sleep, put daryl at ease.

"okay well ill see you two in the morning gotta head back to my watch shift." she started to leave but stopped, "daryl you better see maggie tomorrow, she'll be pissed you came here by yourself but, she misses you." daryl nodded. she smiled and gave him a small hug and headed off.

a deathly silence hung over the library and the crossbow on his back started to feel like it weighed a million pounds. daryl looked at the floor and shifted awkwardly on his feel. "well, i'll grab my shoes and we can go to the trailer then yeah?" paul trotted over to the couch and slipped his boots on. "lets go." paul smiled and patted daryls shoulder. by instinct he flinched, and paul noticed. and it broke his heart, he had picked up that daryl didn't hate all physical contact it was just a matter of who and why. he was envious that sasha was able to hug the man.

paul's trailer was in the very back, which daryl liked, he enjoyed how secluded it was. he followed paul up the small shaky steps and into the tiny space. books and trinkets were crammed onto the ceiling to floor shelves that lined the walls, making the place seem even smaller. a grey couch sat in the living room and a little kitchen with a table and two chairs sat next to it, in between was three doors, that daryl guessed to be the bathroom and the bedrooms.  
"its, a mess i know i usually don't have people over here... i like to pick up stuff when i go out on runs" paul said scratched the back of his kneck. "the bathrooms in the middle and you're rooms on the left. you can shower or something if you want, the journey here is long and it looks like you took on a lot" paul said motioning to daryls blood stained clothes and face. " you can leave your stuff where ever, im going to stay up for a while and read if you need me." he pointed to a book on the kitchen table

daryl only looked at paul and grunted a thank you and awkwardly walked to the room that was now his.  
"i don't care how long you stay here. make yourself at home... and if you decide you want to talk.. you know about the sanctuary, i'm here, i know we aren't as close as your family but.." his voice trailed off. daryl stopped with his back turned to him,his hand on the doorknob.  
" thank you paul." he opened the door and closed it behind him.

he took off his boots and sprawled out on the bed. he hadn't realized just how tired he was until now. daryl rolled over and looked at the door, a sliver of light shining through the crack from underneath. he watched it for a while and was dozing off when we saw shadows of two feet approaching the door, they seemed to hesitate, then disappeared.  
he guessed it was paul probably checking up on him. he was nice like that, and could get used to being around the annoying hippy. though daryl didnt really think he was all that annoying, he was quite interesting and liked hearing paul talk, he just never knew what to say in return.  
his eyelids grew heavy as thoughts of what he would do tomorrow swirled around his mind, and like that he was sound asleep

jolting awake daryl found himself on the ground next to his bed, and his body pinging with pain  
he must have gotten worked up and fallen out of bed from the nightmare he was having.  
its a reoccurring dream only slightly different every night  
a horrifying collage of the last few weeks  
negans brutalities, killing his friends and making him suffer in that cell.  
daryl sat up, back against the bedand hoped he hasn't made too much noise, he didn't want to wake paul up. the sliver of light form under the door had disappeared, but the signs of dawn had just started to show through the window, so daryl got up and put his boots on, and made his way outside.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah i'm really happy w this chapter i hope you guys like it too, i finalkybhave an idea of where this story is going to go

Chapter 2

daryl trudged along in the light of dawn, a few people scurried by here and there, eager to start their work. he didn't feel quite ready to face maggie, and he was too sore to go out hunting again scared of being too stiff and fail to take any walkers out. so, he decided to walk around the inside of the perimeter, try to explore a little.

hours later as the sun peaked over the walls more people woke and the community became busy. daryl didn't fancy the noise from all the bustle but he didn't mind watching people work, they all looked like honey bees buzzing around. 

he soon stumbled upon an area he avoided when he first got here from the sanctuary.  
the cemetery.  
he stared down at his best friends graves and chewed the inside of his lip. damn he needed a cigarette, anything to keep his emotions at bay. sadly he only had one left, but figured this was as good a time as any to light it up.  
after a good while of thinking and straining to hold his tears back he decided to was time to go, and put his cigarette out on his hand, much like he had done when beth had passed. it wasn't a healthy way to cope but daryl didn't know any other way.

"daryl, hey" paul's soft voice called from behind him. daryl wondered how long he had been standing there. "i don't know why but i was a little worried you weren't there when i woke up" paul chuckled, "but it didn't suprise me i guess."  
paul had been worried? about him? but why, daryl had only left to get an early start and clear his head. even then why did paul care about him?  
paul didn't have to see his face to know that daryl was still struggling to process everything, hell he'd even realized daryl hasn't had the chance to. he hasn't had time to himself besides the days it took to get from the kingdom to the hilltop. although it worried paul, he respected that daryl needed to cope on his own first.  
"anyways," paul looked at his feet,"maggie sasha enid and i are having breakfast together in their trailer, it's just a little thing we've started doing every once in a while, you wanna come with me? maggie uh, knows you're here sasha gave in and told her." daryl just stared at him and chewed on his thumb, "she really does miss you, enid too, only enid doesn't know you're here yet... sorry i'm rambling" 

"nah you're fine," daryl didn't know why he felt the need to reassure the younger man but he did anyway," yeah i'll come" he grumbled hesitantly. he didn't know if he was ready to face them but he know he needed the push.  
paul's face lit up," great let's go!" and he led the way.

the scout led him to a trailer quite close to theirs and knocked on the door. sasha opened it and greeted them with a smile. as they went in daryl hung behind paul, his hair covering his eyes.  
"daryl dixon you son of a bitch you could have died or gotten hurt getting here by yourself and no one would have known where to look.." maggie's spiel went on as she pushed paul aside and pulled daryl into an embrace much like the one when the younger man first brought him back to hilltop.  
he winced and flinched away from her touch at first but allowed her to hug him. enid hurried over and greeted him with a hug as well.  
it was only brief though, because daryl chimed in,"thought there was gonna be some damn breakfast" which got a giggle out of the girls.

they sat around the small living room and chatted and laughed, daryl still sticking to himself only partaking in the conversation when others talked to him.  
he was glad maggie didn't seem mad at him or blamed him for what happened to glenn, even though he blamed himself enough, he wouldn't know what he'd do if she had. and if she did, she kept it to herself and didn't let it show. 

paul noticed daryl keeping himself distanced and scooted closer to him on the floor where they sat. he smiled ,and daryl looked at him and looked down back to the floor.  
soon after, they all cleaned up and headed out, everyone had work to do.  
except for daryl and maggie.

paul decided it was best to head out without daryl, he considered waiting outside for him so he wouldn't have to walk around hilltop doing nothing all day, perhaps hanging out with paul. but he deemed that silly and that daryl wouldn't want to hang out with him, and he and maggie deserved some time to actually talk about things.  
and they did, and things were okay.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
one afternoon a couple days later paul was climbing down the latter after his watch shift to be met on cue by daryl. he'd start meeting him after his shift was over.  
"oh hey how's your day going?" paul chirped as they started to walk  
"ts fine, bored as hell." daryl kicked at a rock as they headed towards the trailers. daryl had amen up the role as a handy man in the short time of being there. he'd do odd jobs here and there for some of the residents, and in return got a jar or jam or fresh vegetables. but today there was no chore for him to do.  
"well sometimes i go read by a tree behind the barrington house, you wanna come? its quiet and no one goes back there." daryl nodded, he was glad paul was nice enough to drag him around places when he was between shifts. he liked being around paul and found the man oddly comforting, like paul could sense daryls anxiety and discomfort and made him feel normal.  
plus paul had helped calm him down after he woke up screaming the other night. he's burst into daryls room to see him with his knees to his chest huddled in the corner. he put his hands on darlys shoulders,trying to get daryl to focus and calm down. he then moved his hands to hold daryls face and forced him look at him in the eye, whispering reassuring words and helped him up and back into bed. it surprised paul that daryl had let him touch him like that. he left he door open in case anything else happend so he would be able to hear and help.  
daryl had felt ashamed but he knew the younger man wouldn't judge him for it. 

"i need to stop by the trailer to get my book and a blanket to sit on." daryl waited outside while paul went into the trailer.

they turned the corner wind the Barrington house and daryl was surprised how much noise was muffled by the big brick building. A group of trees with thick trunks and large low hanging branches, surrounded by soft grass that was littered with dandelions.  
daryl sat in the grass next to paul, who leaned his back against a tree. daryl picked at the ground, letting pieces of grass fall through his hands with the nice breeze.  
as time passed the breeze grew stronger and made paul's hair get stuck in his face, so he put it up into a bun. daryl couldn't help but to stare. paul was very nice looking and liked when paul would wear his hair like that. he felt so peaceful here with his friend.  
paul must have felt daryl staring because he looked up from his book and caught Daryl's eyes.  
quickly, an embarrassed daryl looked away and lie down on his back arms under his head, looking up through the swaying branches. 

after a while movement caught his eye as paul stood up and without saying a work, hoisted himself up onto the tree branch above daryl

"you fucking ninja" daryl laughed. paul giggled and peeked his head down to look at him and saw a genuine smile on his face. "you're cute when you smile daryl, you should do it more often." paul spoke without thinking.  
Daryl's cheeks were rosy red and he looked away. his smile turned into a smirk and the smirk faded to a solemn face. he quickly got up and started to leave.  
"daryl wait," paul hopped down from the tree, collecting his things," is didn't mean to upset you i.." paul stuttered out apologies as he ran after daryl.  
they reached the corner of the barrington house and paul decided to just leave it, and let daryl have some space.

and to think, they were having such a lovely afternoon


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!! heres another Chapter! thanks for leaving Kudos its really nice to know poeple actually like my fic AH! ALSO i realize there wasn't a lot of dialogue in this chapter but, there will be more next chapter

Chapter 3

Daryl was happy, he had a bed to sleep in, real food ,he was surrounded by wonderful people who cared about him, and he loved hanging out with Paul so why did it... fluster? no, upset?... no no why did it bother him when paul had called him 'cute'? his first thought was that the man hanging in the tree had been making fun of him (and escaped when he had the chance), and maybe he had been but it was different from when him and Daryl usually push eachothers buttons. but that couldn't be it, Daryl thought as he paced around the attic of the Barrington house. he wasnt sure how he got here or even why he had gone up, maybe it was becuase he was so... bothered by pauls words he didn't feel like having to talk to anyone to open the gate so he could walk around the woods. 

He walked out to the doors that led to a small balcony, and leaned on the rail, watching the people of hilltop below, it was a nice view. Daryl honestly didnt know why he felt so anxious and frazzled, he wasnt mad at paul, he just didnt know how to take a compliment. a zillion questions raced through his mind, but one stuck. paul had always been the friendly flirty type but, did he like daryl, like that?

Daryl shook his head, not knowing if it was rude to just assume that, just becuase paul was gay. But also becuase no one could love possibly see him like that. The only person who had ever said they had really loved daryl was Merle, and that was only a half assed brother love. He suddenly felt terrible, paul probably thought daryl was homophobic or something now. He ran his fingers through his greasy hair. fuck, why did he always have to run off when he was faced with, weird emotions? Hell he fought zombies day and night and he couldnt handle when one person calls him cute?

the sun started to go down and daryl realized just how long he'd been gone, and decided to head down to get some dinner before he went to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paul sat with his head in his hands at maggie and sashas kitchen table. "oh god guys i didnt mean to scare him off i just told him he looked cute! on accident! i know how sensitive he is to this kind of stuff and..oh god what is he thinks im gross and im trying to hit on him?" paul spat out every if and or but to a very giggly sasha.

"jesus its fine he'll come around and act like nothing happned, hes good at avoiding things, plus if he was that mad at you or thought it was gross he would have pulled you down from that tree himself and knocked you into next week." maggie took his hands in hers, "Daryl trusts you and wont stop being your friend but if you want to try starting something you have to let him lead the...long, slow, awkward way." paul sighed. 

"you're right, but no one even knows if hes, you know gay or not so what if im just, god i dont know sasha im so stupid what if he thinks this whole time ive just been trying to lead him on?" he huffed. Sasha just smiled, highly amused,"he'll come around dont you worry." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daryl made his way into the trailer and found that paul wasnt there. He shoved a granola bar in his mouth and headed to the shower, he was quite a greaseball and had only showered once since hes been at hilltop. maybe some cool water will help him clear his mind a bit so he can figure out how to apologize.  
He watched the clear water turn brown form all the sweat and dirt, he was so messy and wondered how in the world did paul think HE was cute? paul was clean and neat and never smelled bad, but daryl? he was always covered in a thick layer of grime somehow.  
Daryl stepped out of the shower and tied a towel around his waist, gathering his clothes and opeing the door.

And there paul stood, taking off one of his boots, he must have just gotten home. His eyes met daryls and he started to say something "hey daryl lis-" but he was cut off as daryl slammed the bathroom door shut by instinct. "ah um okay i'll uh, im going to my room i'll uuh, talk to you later." pauls muffled voice studdered from the ohter side of the door.Daryl heaved a heavy sigh and screamed at himself in his head, 'what the hell was that?'. Daryl peeked his head out of the bathroom and hurried to his room, changing into some battered cargo pants and a button down flannel without sleeves. He took out a pack of ciggaretes he'd been given as payment from one of the hilltop residents for fixing a leak in his roof. 

He sat on the steps of the trailer, halfway finished with his ciggarette when the door opened, and paul plopped down next to him. "hey.."paul rubbed his hands on his thighs, hoping Daryl wouldnt take off again. "listen im sorry if what i said made you uncomfortable i just-"  
"paul, shut up. you talk too damn much... 'ts fine, i should be sorry fer running and shit." daryl grumbled and glanced at the man next to him through the hair hiding his face. Paul only chuckled, "its okay. why dont we go get some dinner i havent eaten all day." he got up and streatched. daryl followed and tossed his cigarrete on the ground smashing it out with his foot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two had fallen into a steady routine, every morning Daryl would wake up first and fidget around the trailer, skinning kill, sharpen knives, or simply screw around with his crossbow. He sometimes woke up to Paul passed out on the couch, book fallen on the floor (damn hippy bookworm), so he would cover paul up with a blanket and sneak out the front door.  
After breakfast Paul would head to his shift at watch, or help Gregory and Maggie out. while Paul busied away, daryl would help aroud with the gardens or handy work or went out hunting. At noon, when Paul had a break, him and Daryl would walk around the perimeter of hilltop or hung out on the balcony off the attick of the barrington house. Sometimes they talked but most times they enjoyed the comfortable silence and each others company. But, Paul was a busy man, and worked on making up for the leadership that Gregory lacked, and what Maggie was unable to do because of the baby, but he always made time for him and daryl to hang out.

After lunch time they both headed back to work until it was dinner time. Occasionally they'd have dinner at Maggie and sashas. 'Its like they were attached at the hip or married or something, and Daryl had only been there for almost two weeks', Enid had said to sahsa once. she'd only laughed in response.

Paul had gone on a small run once while Daryl was there, and offered if Daryl wanted to join the group on the short run, but the onler man refused giving some silly excuse. He wasnt ready for all the hardcore fighting stuff quite yet, and didn't want to travel too far from the community. It was for the best though, because daryl was technically still on the run from Negan and his men.  
Things were great, and Daryl was getting more comfortable.

But soon, most nights Daryl's nightmares were too intense and woke not only him but paul up too, much like tonight. He'd always break from his trance to find himself huddled in the corner, Paul's hands on his cheeks to bring him back to reality. Images of Glenn, Abraham, and negan flashed across his mind as paul helped him back to his bed, and covered him up. He sat at the edge of Daryl's bed, about to leave when a hand grabbed his wrist. "stay." Daryl spoke so quietly paul wasnt sure if he'd actually heard it. It was unlike daryl to actually want and ask for help himself. 

So he did, he stayed. He laid on his back next to daryl, who was curled up, back facing Paul. Half asleep daryl realized he would never have asked rick to stay like he had paul. Rick was his best friend, his brother, who cared for him, so why had it seemed so odd that he could ask paul, a man hes known for such a short time, to stay here, with him, and woudlt ever think od asking rick?

Maybe it was a different kind of friendship, But daryl was much too exhausted to dig deeper..


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter feels a little short but i'm pretty proud of it, and excited for the next few chapters!!!!

Daryl was glad paul never brought up all the incidents with daryls nightmares. although now it would be difficult, seeing as though he was laying in bed next to him. 

paul sat up in bed, last nights memories came flooding back and he could only hope that when daryl woke up he wouldn't be freaked out and forget that he'd asked paul to stay. they had slept with backs facing each other, paul making sure he left inches between them.

He was pretty sure daryl was still asleep, so he tried to stand up without waking him. But alas, daryl had already been up, and rolled over to look at paul. his eyes widened in confusion for a moment and returned to normal after realizing he'd been the one who wanted paul to stay with him.

"good morning daryl." Paul sat back down on the bed, crossing his legs in his lap. daryl rolled to lay on his back and sighed. "mornin... sorry fer, uh making you stay you didn't-"   
"don't apologize i don't mind really." Paul smiled, "i've got a meeting with Maggie and Gregory soon though, and as much as id love to cuddle in bed with you," he teased daryl," i need to shower and head out." paul stood.Daryls face was beet red," fuck off." he groaned as paul let himself out.

daryl continued on with his daily activities, trying to not let the embarrassment overtake him, and looked for something, anything to keep his mind off the fact he and paul slept in the same bed. After helping one of the older women weed the gardens he headed straight to the trees behind the Barrington house for lunch. The lady had given him a couple of apples as payment and daryl decided to bring one for him and one for paul.

when he turned the corner paul was already waiting for him. he looked up from his book and waved to daryl. as he got closer he tossed paul his apple. "oh thanks!" paul smiled and took a bite. Daryl plopped down next to him  
"How was the meeting?" he chomped on his apple.  
"it was good, we decided, well maggie and i decided, we are going to start training some of the people in hilltop to fight. We need all the help we can get for fighting negans men, and it would just be nice to have people here who can actually fight and shoot a gun." Daryl could see just how tired paul was, his face had turned from his usual cheery to concerned in a matter of seconds. daryl liked how upbeat paul always was, but he really liked when he took his 'hi im jesus im everyone's happy leader and friend' mask off, he liked the real, laid back paul. 

"so you gonna teach a bunch of farmers karate?" daryl smirked.   
"no you idiot," paul punched his arm, " just basic skills, you wanna help? you're a big guy you can fight. even though i could totally kick your ass." paul looked at daryl who raised his brow.  
"you? kick MY ass? i doubt it hippy." he shook his head.  
"oh yeah? you may be big and buff and strong but i'm small,i have speed, old man." paul took pride in his fighting skills  
"you challengin me to a fight?" daryl cocked his head and laughed.  
"you know what? i am daryl. i'll kick your ass right here."  
They both stood up, daryl shook his head.  
"don't worry i'll go easy on you." paul smirked, "ready?"  
"yeah."  
daryl made the first move, barging forward trying to grab paul, who moved out of his was and caught his arm, pinning it against daryls back. daryl leaned forward trying to flip paul over his shoulder, but lost his balance and fell forward, hitting the ground with a thud and a grunt

paul wasn't able to see what was happening and landed on top of daryl. he moved to sit up on darlys back, still holding his arm. "hah told you-" he was too busy trying to brag when daryl quickly rolled over, catching paul off guard. Daryl flipped himself over and pinned paul underneath him.  
"well," paul sighed, a wide grin on his face," you just have gravity in your side now." they both   
laughed. Daryl got up and held a hand out for paul, helping him up.

his hair was a mess, with grass and a dandelion sticking out of the side.   
"uh paul you got..stuff" daryl motioned to his hair. paul started raking through it with his fingers totally missing everything that was stuck.  
"stop stop come here you little shit" daryl turned him around and got it all out, he held the smushed dandelion in his hand and turned paul back around, placing it behind his ear.  
"there now your hippy look is complete." daryl said looking quite pleased with himself. paul had never seen him so, let go and loose before, even though they just tackled eachother. and plus daryl had never let paul het that close to him before. he looked up at daryl and smiled and could see daryl avoiding his gaze through his bangs.  
"wow. thanks daryl, finally got my woodstock look." paul said sarcastically putting up a peace sign.  
"shut it you, i still beat your tiny ass." 

daryl wasn't sure how paul had gotten this playful side of him to show,and he's glad he didn't make it awkward and run away.

"while loosing to you has been a pleasure, i should probably get back to maggie and gregory. i'll see you later tonight." paul was still smiling and turned to leave.   
"i'll help out, with the training and shit." daryl called to him, and paul turned and grinned. "thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also sorry if the fighting scene is bad, it's the first time i've ever written one


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im really happy wiht this chapter i hope you guys like it!! (im still revising it)

Daryl needed advice. Serious advice. He couldnt belive he let himself, what- Flirt? with paul. Is that why Paul left so abruptly? Becuase he doesnt like Daryl that way? Theres no way to tell and he needed to get it all out. But not to sasha, no she and paul were close, and definitely not maggie becuase they were closer. Whats about.. Enid? She was a teenage girl and he was pretty sure her and Carl had something goin on so maybe, she could give him some boy advice. He hate that he'd thought of it was 'boy advice'.

Daryl sighed as he carried pauls book that he left back to the trailer. He never even considered if he was gay, he was sure he liked girls too. What was that called? bilingual? nono, Bisexual yeah. He wondered what merle would have thought if he had caught daryl putting a flower in a boys hair and asking him to stay the night in his bed. Okay so what if he was bisexual and liked a karate kicking man who called himself Jesus (though he had only ever called him by his real name), theres nothing wrong with that right? Everyone accapted tara and aaron and eric, sow hy woudl it be different for Daryl? Would they hate him? Would they laugh in his face? Shaking his head he decided to only tell Enid for now, and see how that went, he trusted her, though he knew teenage girls were notorious for gossip. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Paul halfway sprinted into the barrington house, full of excitement. He burst into the office to see maggie looking out the window, by herself. "jesus, everything okay?"

"yeah yeah, wheres gregory?" he leaned both his hands on the desk.

"he decided he had better things to do." Maggie said and rolled her eyes.

"good becuase i've got to talk to you." He told her how his afternoon went down and didnt spare detail.

Maggie couldnt help but to giggle, it was so nice that someone so sweet and gentle had taken an intrest in Daryl. She hoped it all worked out.

"..it was so cute maggie i had to leave so i wouldnt reach up and kiss his stupid face and ruin the moment, oh god i left so suddely maybe he thinks i dont feel the same. But he didnt shy away from me, he made the first move. Even if it was to just put this silly flower in my hair. It has to mean something right?" 

"I dont know Jesus i've never known Daryl to be.. affectionate. You could be right, but even then you have to be careful. Daryls big and stong on the outside but hes a small snail hidden inside his shell. I dont think he's ever had something like this. Take it slow."she put a hand on his shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Daryl? why are you here?" Enid looked down at daryl from the doorway. 

"Hey uh, can i come in?" Daryl bit his finger. Enid moved aside to let him in.

"everytihng okay?" She sat down on the couch. Daryl paced around the trailer.

"yes..no. You uh, listen you cant tell no one this Enid, promise me?" he pointed a finger at her. "yes yes of course." a grin forming on her face.

"you're a teenage girl you, you know all about boys.. how do ya, ya know, know if one likes you?" he looked at the floor and let his bangs fall in front of his face.

Enid smiled from ear to ear, "daryl, Paul likes you, you dont have to worry about that."

"wha- he does? how you know?" daryls head shot up.

"becuase he told sasha and sasha told me silly." Of course, girls and gossip. "do you like him back?" She leaned into the question. Daryl sat down in a chair at the kitchen table and held his head in his hands.

"hes such an ass and hes got the stupid name and hair and beard and he reads a lot and i. i hate him Enid but he-"

"stop stalling. yes or no daryl."

"I think so." Daryl huffed. Enid threw her hands up and clapped, screetching.

"AWW Daryl!!!! thats so cute oh my god!!" 

"oh lord no dont you start that shit enid." he shook his head. "what the hell do i do now?"

"jsut be you, you dont have to do anything you dont want to. I can tell you dont exactly know what youre doing, seeing as though you came to take advice from a teenage girl. Jesus Knows you well enough to move at a speed that wont be too fast, and if it is you can tell him to slow down." darly nodded. "so... did you two kiss or something?" Enid prodded.

"youre just as bad as him" Daryl mumbled and go up to leave before stopping and turning around at the door. "thank you. appreciate it. but dont you dare tell anyone."

"only if you and jesus come to dinner over here tonight."she smiled, "i got your back."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night Paul came home to Daryl finishing up preparing some cooked rabbit.

"whats that for?" 

"We gon have dinner at maggie and sashas tonight, figured id bring something." Daryl shrugged. He noticed Paul didnt have the flower behind his ear anymore.

"aw how nice of you." Paul walked toward his beroom, "im gonna change and then we can head over together." he disappeared in his room and returned in the middle of buttoning up a whte shirt. Daryl caught a glance at Pauls toned body and swiftly looked down at his feet, biting the inside of his lip. They left the trailer and walked towards Maggies.

"just so you know i put that flower in a book, to press it, i used to do it with my mom when i was younger. I know its stupid but i wanted to keep it." paul looked at daryl in the dark. Daryl just looked ahead of him, container of food in hand, and blushed.

"thas cool.." Daryl didnt know what to say back, and theyd reached their destination. Paul reached up and kissed Daryl on the cheek.

"lets go." Paul looked at Daryl wiht a sweet smile and held the door open for him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, but an exciting one!! thank you guys for all the kudos and comments !!! <3

chapter 6

Paul was sure the entire community was woken up by their yelling. The whole night had just been too much too fast for daryl.

"What the hell paul? The fuck you thinkin? That this is a joke, you trying to make fun of me?" Daryl paced around the kitchen of their trailer.

"Daryl.. n-no of course not"

~~~~~~~ earlier that evening at maggie's~~~~

"Daryl im so glad you brought this rabbit for us thank you!" maggie smiled as they sat around the trailer eating dinner. He just grunted in return, mouth too full to talk. 

He and paul sat at the Kitchen table with Enid while maggie and Sasha sat on the couch. the four made conversation and laughed every so often, daryl just sitting and once again keeping to himself, not listening in. Daryl was sure his face was still red from when Paul kissed his cheek and didn't want maggie or Sasha to notice.

He looked up to see Enid staring at him and he cocked his eyebrow. Enid winked and went back to eating and conversing. The hell was that all about? 

After they ate and cleaned up they stayed and chatted for a bit.   
"So daryl, Paul told me you were going to help out with training some of the people here." Maggie said.  
"oh uh yeh. figured i might as well, ain't got any better shit t-" Daryl stuttered when he felt a hand placed on his knee. "to uh to do" His eyes widened.   
"you okay?" maggie furrowed her brow.

"uh. yeah m fine." He looked down to see paul's hand on his knee, now he knew for sure his face was red. he looked up at paul who was just staring straight ahead, smile on his face.

"Daryl will be a good teacher, he's a great fighter, he had me on my ass today when we did a little sparring. Of course i ran my mouth before hand saying how i could definitely beat him but. i was wrong." Everybody laughed.  
"and plus daryl winning was kind of hot.." paul added quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Daryl was taken back, surprised and enraged. He slapped paul's hand off his knee and stood up, knocking his chair over. He quickly turned to leave and burst out the door.

Paul looked at the girls with wide eyes.  
"Fuck." He got up," thank you for dinner but i have to go." He raced out after daryl, who had already disappeared inside him and pauls trailer. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They why the hell you touching my knee and Kissin my cheek and, and all that shit? you trying to embarrass me? Becuase you know i like you and you think it's funny?" It all started to come out at once, and daryl snapped his mouth shut, staring at paul.

"Daryl, no! i did it because i like you too stupid. i'm sorry that tonight was, too much too fast i. i'm not trying to make fun of you, i feel the same way." He put his hand over his face. "But i realize now what maggie said about going slow."

"you like me too?" daryl looked at his feet.

" of course i do. this isn't a prank." paul moved closer to daryl.

"I ain't ever.. done this whole" he waved his hands around,  
"relationship thing before." daryl looked at paul, bangs covering his eyes.

"that's okay i'll help you and if you want to try this, we can, but only if you want to. And we can go slow." Paul slowly place a hand on Daryls shoulder.

Daryl hummed in agreement and nodded his head. It was a lot for him to take in but, he liked paul so much.

"Ain't no one ever liked me. I ain't all that, good lookin or interesting or nothin'" Daryl scratched the back of his neck.   
"so why you wanna be with a dirtbag like me."

" oh shut up Daryl you're the most handsome man ive met. And plus the reason i like hanging out with you so much is because you're interesting. you're smart and good at tracking and hunting, you laugh at all my bad jokes and you're fun to be around. you make me feel safe." now paul was blushing.

"thanks" Daryl mumbled quietly. They stood there in comfortable silence for a while when paul slid his hand off Daryl's shoulder to his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

"i'm going to bed. i'll see you in the morning, okay?"Paul smiled and headed for his room.

"goodnight Daryl."

"goodnight"


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning Daryl woke up with nervousness weighing in his stomach. How would their feelings for each other effect their daily routine and most importantly, friendship?  
He got out of bed much later than usual and decided to actually shower. 

He looked at himself in the mirror, eyes deep and tired. His body littered with scrapes and scars. Daryl sighed, this was only what his front looked like, he didn't want to think about all the added marks in his back. He shook his head, what if Paul wanted to get intimate? how would he be able to do that without revealing his traumatic past? He hadn't even told Paul about what happened at the Saviors compound. His head was filled with more questions than answers.

After getting dressed Daryl rummaged around the kitchen, finding something to eat. Settling for an apple he sprawled out on the sofa, thinking about what he would do today. The door to Paul's room revealing a very groggy and messy haired Paul. 

"good morning Daryl, surprised you're still here." He yawed and stretched his arms. 

"mornin, just wanted to wait until you woke up. Thinkin bout goin hunting before training, you wanna come?" He had finished his apple and was fidgeting with the core.

"yeah. Of course!"He walked over and shoved Daryls legs off the sofa so he could sit down. He settled cross legged next to him and ate a piece of left over corn bread. He sat close enough that their legs touched, Daryl liked the closeness. 

"im surprised you would ask me to come, usually that's you're little escape." Paul looked over at him, and Daryl just stared back through his bangs, he was so cute in the morning.

"what?" Paul said through a full mouth. 

Daryl grunted," nothin." and blushed.

"oh you and your mumbling and blushing." paul teased.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"you better be damn quiet if yer coming with me." The gate closed behind them.

"yeah yeah i'm good at being sneaky." Paul boasted. "im a ninja remeber?"

"a loud mouthed one." Daryl smirked.

"you love me though." paul nudged Daryl wth this shoulder. He returned the nudge with a playful shove, to which paul pushed back and laughed. Daryl shoved paul again, a little too hard making him land on his ass in the dirt. daryl burst laughing. A genuine laugh.

"oh ha ha daryl." Paul scolded him with a smirk and held his hand out so daryl could help him up. Daryl pulled up back to his feet, but didn't let go of paul's hand. they stood there, hand in hand until the snarl of a walker could be heard in the distance.

"we should move." Daryl started walking only he didn't let go of paul's hand, and they scurried through the trees. It was a while until Daryl found any kind of animal track, and he has let go of paul's hand to grab his crossbow.

All tracks led to be unsuccessful and they decided to start back to the community.

"so i never asked what you did before a this." Paul looked at daryl.

"i didn't do shit, i was jus some dirtbag following my brother merle around, he's uh, he's gone now though." He tried avoiding any other details of his childhood.

"what was merle like?"  
Daryl snorted.

"He was a douche. Racist sexist and homophobic, the whole package. Never would have had the balls to tell him i wasn't straight. But he was only one i really had m whole life, y know? he was my brother." daryl sighed and looked up at Paul. "what about you? what did you do?"

"i settled for a mediocre guy and lived in a mediocre apartment with a mediocre job. And taught a karate class some nights. Honestly, it's taken the world to end for me to realize i don't need to settle for mediocrity anymore." he looked at Daryl, "im glad we met but im sad it had to be at these circumstances."

"if it had been the end of the world i might not have even thought of talking to you paul." daryl continued looking down at his feet.

"its bitter sweet then huh.." They both smiled a bit.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Training had gone well. Paul worked on teaching hand to hand combat without weapons, using Daryl as his example attacker. He was surprised Daryl had come to let him touch him more, knowing he was only comfortable with his family doing that. He also thought it was super adorable when Daryl would get blushy every time Paul would go through a fight motion on him or when Paul would have to move Daryl around for example attacks. By the end of the day they were both sweaty and tired.

"well, that was fun." Paul said as they walked back to the trailer.

"mhm, hope to god those people gonna be able to keep their weapons in a fight. ain't very good at punchin."

"most of them are sheltered,Daryl. they have no idea." Paul sighed as they walked up the rickety steps.

"im going to take a shower, you should too when i'm done." Paul waved a finger at him and started towards the bathroom.

Before he got there though Daryls hand grabbed his wrist, turning around and sliding his hand how to intertwine their fingers.

" you like holding hands don't you?" Paul giggled. 

"only like holdin yer hand." Daryl looked up from the floor. Paul let go of his hand and pulled him in for a hug, clinging around his waist.

"this okay?" Paul put his head on daryls chest. Daryl wrapped his arms around paul, without hesitation, it felt.. right.

"yeah, it's nice." A low him came from paul in agreement.

they stood there for a while, Paul taking in Daryls manly scent, Daryl finding comfort in holding his loved one in his arms. 

They soon parted ways, both with smiles on their faces, and took turns using the shower.  
They ate leftover corn bread and rabbit and chatted about their favorite music from before the turn. Paul had managed to find a record store while on a run once, and snagged a small record player and records. He showed Daryl some of his records and he led daryl to his room and put them on for him.

"which ones you're favorite?"Daryl asked rummaging through his collection.

"well i really liked The Who before everything and i was lucky to have come across a record of their album Its Hard." Daryl rooted through his bin full of records to find it, and he put it on.

They laid across Paul's bed staring as the ceiling as "Why Did I Fall For That" played from the speakers.

"this is some good shit." Daryl nodded his head along with the music. 

"yeah?" Paul smiled and started singing along.

"yeah."

After listening to both sides of the record, Paul put everything away.

"Maybe we can listen to another record tomorrow night?" Paul said as Daryl made his way back to his room.

"okay yeah. Goodnight." 

"Goodnight." Paul closed his door and flopped down on his bed. This man would be the death of him. He chose that record just because Paul had said it was his favorite, and he hugged him, and that was like, a BIG deal. Paul was so giddy how could he ever sleep? Tonight felt like some sort of 90s high school romance movie. He got up with a grin plastered across his face and got ready for bed and was just about to lay down where there was a knock on his door.

~~~~~~~~~~  
Daryl felt like he was on cloud-9! He loved Paul's music taste and just sitting around listening to his favorite record with him. He loved holding his hand and hugging the small man. Daryl thoroughly enjoyed being around Paul. Pacing around his bedroom, there was no way he wanted tonight to be over. Should he go knock on Paul's door? and do what? Its not like he's ready to have sex with paul, or kiss him, but he wanted to desperately to see the hippy prick. 

Before he knew what was happening his feet carried him to paul's door. After a few moments of collecting courage, he knocked.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Daryl." Paul looked at him with bright eyes, like he'd been expecting him.

Daryl stood there sheepishly, and didn't say anything back. He only stared at the younger man. He looked so natural in his black sweat pants and blue sweater. Somehow Paul new exactly what he wanted and invited him in.

" you wanna stay in here tonight?" 

"mhmm" Daryl nodded and moved to sit on the edge of Paul's bed, removing his boots. 

"Daryl do you not have any sweatpants? you can borrow some if you want." Paul tossed a grey pair from his closet before Daryl could say no.

Paul turned his back while Daryl changed into them. He folded back his blankets and started to get settled. Daryl stood by the side of the bed awkwardly. 

"come on," He patted the space next to him,"its not like we haven't shared a bed before."

They both got settled and Paul turned off the light. After some time he felt Daryl move over so his back was touching Paul's shoulder. 

"Paul?"

"yeah daryl?"

"are we like.. boyfriends now?" Daryl sounded so sweet and quiet.

"is that what you want?" he turned his head to looked at Daryl, who was facing away from him. 

"yeah... i guess, if it's what you want?" 

"then yeah, its what i want too." Paul smiled in the dark.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***self harm mention***

Paul could stay in bed forever. Daryl had rolled over in his sleep and clung to Paul's arm and side, his head snuggled up next to his shoulder. Paul was trapped on his back but, didn't mind, the sound Daryl's soft and steady breathing, and warmth was relaxing. He thought back to the years before the outbreak, back to his teenage days where he was shamed for loving who he did, how it drove him to a pit of depression he always had a hard time getting out of. Paul dealed with self destructive thoughts and tendencies up into his adult life. The scars on his wrist now blended in with the rest of his battle marks. He was happy he was here though, he was happy he found Daryl. Paul's eyes welled with tears and he used his other arm that Daryl wasn't wrapped around, to wipe his face.

"why you cryin?' Daryl's voice was groggy.

"oh i didn't know you were awake." Paul sniffled and wiped his nose with his sleeve. Daryl unwrapped himself from around Paul and sat up, sitting cross legged.

"sorry i was uh, all up in your space." Daryl apologized, and Paul moved to sit up facing him. 

"no its okay it was, cute." Paul wiped his nose again, eyes still puffy and red. 

"so whats wrong? did i do something wrong?" Daryl chewed on his lip.

"no no! it wasn't you, i was just thinking, like about my past and stuff, and how lucky and happy i am to be here with you. Thats, so cheesy but.." He ran his hand through his wild morning hair."its true." Daryl nodded and blushed.

He knew exactly what those scars on his wrist were from, they were just like the scabs on his own hand. It saddened Daryl knowing Paul seemingly hadn't had a great life long ago either. He understood that Paul never told him because it might have been too upsetting, and he respected that. But it was an odd comfort, he felt less alone. They both had demons. He was reminded of his time being held by the saviors, and knew at some point he would have to tell Paul, or somebody about it. He liked that the younger man let him take his time and respected that Daryl would tell him when he was ready. Paul had been the only one who saw the effect it had on him, the only one who knew about the nightmares. Daryl was scared to even think about it for a while, but he knew that if he didnt talk about it now, while it was at the surface, he would want to talk about it ever again.

"kept me in a cell." Daryl said quietly. He looked up to see Pauls wide eyes welling with tears once again.

"oh Daryl.. we dont have to talk about it now, unless your ready to?" Paul reached out and held Daryl's hand.

"m' ready." He stared at their intertwined hands, "the cell was small and dark and they didnt give me any clothes until a few days, i think, after i got there, lived in filth, like an animal. They played this song over and over and over, only giving me dog food on bread." he looked up at Paul, who had tears silently streaming down his face Daryl could see the pain is his eyes. "made me wear this stupid lookin white sweatsuit with an A on it, started draggin me around doing dumb chores and shit. almost got out once, but. got the shit beaten out of me.... They uh.. they gave me this Polaroid." His voice started to crack "it uh.. it was a picture of- of Glenn after.. that night." He took a ragged deep breath and looked up at Paul.

"Oh my god." Paul reached out and pulled Daryl close. Daryl half laying/sitting in his lap, clung around his waist. And he finally let it out, Daryl let out all the built up emotions and pain he'd forced himself to keep in. Just sitting, Pauls arms holding him, had felt better than burning himself, or hunting down walkers to kill. It felt safe, and good. They both cried, a lot. 

"im so sorry they did that to you. im so glad you got out of there im so glad i ran into you on your way out Daryl." Paul said through sniffles, and stroked his hair.

Both Paul and Daryl were taken back at the situation. Usually Daryl would never let himself be so vulnerable, unless it was after a nightmare (but even then they both knew Daryl was hardly conscious from sleep). The vulnerability wasnt unsettling though, they both found to comforting to be able to let their guards down without judgement.

After a while of just sitting in each others arms, Daryl looked up to face his partner. Both of them were red nosed and puffy eyed. 

"paul, yer an ugly crier" Daryl teased. Paul looked down at him and laughed, "hey!.. so are you" he stuck his tongue out at the older man.

As they started to laugh, someone burst into Pauls room,

"Jesus wake up you're-" Maggie stopped in the doorway, eyes wide, hand over her mouth covering an obvious smile. She stared at the sniffly red faced boys. "oh my god im sorry i"

Daryl didnt know what to do but burrow his head further into Pauls chest. "ill... be in the kitchen uh waiting for you paul." she left and closed the door behind her. Paul burst out laughing, and Daryl stayed where he was, only letting out a deep groan of embarrassment.

He moved to sit up again, looking at the younger man

"guess we gotta tell her now." He rubbed his eyes.

"yeah... ill go see what she wants, and ill tell her to not to tell anyone, is that okay?" Paul got up and started getting proper clothes on. Daryl fell back, laying down on the bed, and tried not to stare as paul changed his shirt

"mm, might as well tell enid and sasha, but no one else yet. God knows those two would have found out anyways." Paul nodded as he sat down on the bed to tie his boots.

"okay, well you can stay here and lay around for a while i dont mind, and i wont tell anyone about anything you told me okay." Paul turned to look at Daryl.

"thank you." Daryl mumbled. Paul smiled and headed out the door.

Daryl wrapped himself up in Paul's blankets, taking in the mans scent all around him. He felt so weightless now that he told somebody what happened to him. He hadnt been in a real healthy relationship like this before, only flings here and there in high school, and especially never with a man before but, he liked it, he liked holding Paul, and Paul holding him. It felt natural, and Daryl could feel the love.

He decided he would wait until he thought Maggie was gone to go back to his room to get dressed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Maggie listen, i dont want you getting the wrong idea okay." Paul started and sat next to her at the kitchen table.

"Jesus look i dont need you to explain anything to me its fine," she smiled," i only hope those weren't sad or angry tears. All i want to say is that i love you, but if you are mean to that boy i swear on my life i will end you Paul." Maggie raised her brow, it was her first time using his first name. Paul smiled and blushed, looking down at his hands.

"i understand, ill be good to him i promise, hes good to me."

"good. Now for the real reason im here. I wanted to remind you that drop off from Alexandria should be here today, we also have a meeting scheduled with rick and who ever else comes with him, about weapons, plans etc." she paused and sighed. "he ready to tell everyone about... this, yet?" she said quietly.

"no, i dont think so. He's scared i think." Maggie nodded in response.

They continued chatting quietly for awhile before they heard Paul's bedroom door open. Daryl scurried out into the hallway.

"good morning Daryl." Maggie giggled as he walked into his room and shut the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this chapter it was so fun and made me smile as i wrote it i hope you guys liked it!


	9. Chapter 9

Paul waited for daryl to get dressed after maggie left so they could walk to the barrington house together.

"you know, rick and some of the others are going to be here today, and i don't think they know you're here." paul said as they left the trailer.

"mhm. i know it was to keep me safe or whatever, but i can't belive rick made me stay at that fukin circus, right after i got back too" He kicked at a rock. Paul nodded his head.

They walked through the community in silence, only hearing all the residents bustle, hard at work. But as the two men emerged from where all the trailers were, they saw the Alexandrians had already arrived, a few cars and a truck parked inside the gates, people unpacking them. Daryl recognized some of them from around Alexandria, but didn't see his family. 

"looks like the meeting already started, you sure u want to go in?" paul stopped on the house steps.

"yeah." daryl started up the stairs and help the door open for Paul, "c'mon."

When they walked in they heard faint chatter and headed towards the office, Daryl following paul closely.

Paul went in first, halting all conversations. A few "hey jesus!" and hellos could be heard, until Daryl stalked in and stood behind him, looking down at the floor.

"Daryl, what?" Rick stood with his hands on his hips. Daryl looked up to see Aaron, Rick, Tara, and Michonne were staring at him wide eyed, Sasha and Maggie with sly grins on their face. 

"What happend why are you here?" Tara stood up from her place on the couch.

"nothin happened, jus didn't want to be at the kingdom no more." He shrugged. Paul walked over to Maggie by the desk. 

"so you just left? how did you get here?" Questions from the four flung out of their mouths.  
"He walked. By himself. I wasn't happy about it either but he's here now and he's okay." Maggie interrupted.

"you can't just run around and do what you want Daryl you can't be so childish, what if you would have gotten hurt?" Rick scolded.

"what? was i just supposed to stay there with those lunatics? You left me all by myself. I was alone. Again. so fuck yall if you think im childish for not wanting to be by myself after i just... got back." Some how he gravitated over to paul, who looked up at him. A thick silence fell over the room. 

"Im sorry i just wanted to know you were going to be safe... we all need you." Rick ran his hand through his hair. Daryl scoffed.

"s'fine. m' fine."he sat down in a chair in the corner. 

The group continued with the meeting, discussing the new community they had come across. Paul couldn't l stop sneaking peeks at Daryl every so often. He was slumped in the chair, chewing his thumb. They made eye contact a few times, causing Daryl to blush. Tara and Michonne noticed this, and quietly whispered to themselves.

When the meeting was dismissed Daryl booked it out of there, with Paul following behind.

"What's up with those two?" Rick looked at maggie and Sasha. They glanced at each other before maggie answered,

" no idea.."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Daryl walked around the side of the house toward he and Paul's spot by the trees.  
He sat down against a tree and Paul plopped down next to him. 

"Rick is like m brother but i don't know why he gotta treat me like a child. he's got too damn much on his plate to be worryin bout me." Daryl shook his head. 

"He cares about you and he couldn't guarantee that you would be safe if he took you with us." Paul picked at the grass next to him.

The two sat in silence for a while before paul got an idea. He got up and collected some dandelions from around the trees and brought them back to where Daryl was sitting. He set his pile of yellow flowers down and sat next to it.  
Daryl watched in confusion as Paul weaved them together in a line, and brought them together. He attached one end to the other and held it up. It was some sort of... crown?

"come here, bend your head down." Paul looked at Daryl.

"you really think i'm gonna let you put that on me?" Daryl smirked.

"fine i'll wear it then, but i'm making another one and you will wear it Dixon." Paul was about to put it on.

"nah lemmie have it, teach me how to do that and i'll make u one." 

"aw, Daryl you're too sweet." Paul said mockingly, but wholeheartedly meant it. The older man just glared at him. Paul brushed some of Daryls hair out of his face and put the crown on him. Daryl watched him as he did, he hadn't ever had one play with his hair, it hadn't ever been this long before. Paul scooted back to get a good look at him, he looked so cute, and paul couldn't stop the smile spreading across his face. 

"oh my god you're literally so adorable Daryl." The younger man giggled. Daryl only blushed.

"alright alright. now just. show me how this is done." Daryl picked up some flowers. 

Paul had to take over and fix the thing... many, many times. And when it was finished, it looked like it was bound to fall apart at the slightest touch. But, it was cute nonetheless.

Daryl moved some strands of paul's hair behind his ear, taking time to let his hands run curiously through it. After placing the crown on Paul's head, he sat back to look. 

"oh paul.. it looks like shit- not because of you or anything you look.. great," he added, " it's just, its shitty."

"shut up i bet i look like a god," He laughed.

Daryl was glad that their location couldn't be seen, kind of secluded from the rest of the rest of Hilltop. Not that he was ashamed of being with Paul, he just wasn't ready to come out, and he had issues with PDA.

The only way you would have seen them was if you peeked your head around the corner of the Barrington house, which enid michonne and tara, were doing.

It hadn't been apparent that they were spying until Enid couldn't keep in her squeals any longer.  
"Enid shush!"  
"im sorry i'm sorry it's just look at them!"

"we can hear you, come out" Paul rolled his eyes and yelled. Tara and Enid followed Michonne out from behind the corner awkwardly, and made their way over to them grins plastered across their faces.  
Daryl just sat back against the tree, holding his head in his hands.

"fuck."  
So much for not telling people right away.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO SORRY for such a late update! I've been so busy and exhausted i didnt want to write a bad chapter so i waited. Hope you like it!!

The three girls stood awkwardly in front of the two men. Michonne opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Daryl standing and brushing past them abruptly.

"Daryl wait! we're sorry!" Tara started to follow him.

"let him go its okay." Paul stood," he'll be okay, he wasn't quite ready for everyone to see, well, this. He thinks you guys will see him differently."

"see him differently? no one sees me differently, or Eric and Aaron." Tara said. "We didn't even think anything would happen, we only asked enid what was up with you two because during the meeting Daryl couldn't keep his eyes of you. If anything we thought Daryl hated you." She sighed.

"Guess i owe Daryl an apology then..." Enid looked at her feet.

"i think ill go talk to him in a bit, by myself. I uh, i know what its like feeling outed." Tara looked at Enid and everyone nodded.

"well hopefully you can get him to come to dinner, it'll be starting soon" Paul looked at Tara.

"man, we havent all had a dinner together in ages." Michonne smiled.

"alright well, im gonna go find him before he escapes out the gates." Tara turned and jogged away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Daryls legs danged off the Attic balcony of the Barrington house. He wasnt mad at Enid, or the other girls, he knew the only reason they would spy was because they genuinely wanted to know what was goin on. He'd wish people would stop pushing their nose in places it doesnt belong though. Everything was moving so fast. When Maggie and... Glenn.. started dating they had to be secretive because of Hershel finding out, but were soon so open with it. Daryl didn't know if he'd ever be comfortable being so, relationshippy with Paul out in the open like that, not hidden behind walls. He heard footsteps behind him but didint bother to look who it was, he didnt care. 

Tara sat down next to him, letting her feet dangle too.

"took me forever to find you....none of us think of you differently." She paused, "who knows?"

"maggie, sasha, Enid, Michonne and you. Too damn many and y'all all happen to be gossipin girls." He grumbled.

"im sorry. Being.. outed sucks. I've been there." Daryl looked up at Tara and cocked a brow, "when i had my first girlfriend in highschool, my sister found out and told my family at the dinner table one night. Luckily they all came around but. Being pushed into a world you arent ready for is hard." There was a long pause before Daryl spoke up,

"I aint got a clue what im doin, aint got a clue how to tell rick." He shook his head.

"you'll figure it out, when the time is right." She smiled at him.

"m afraid we dont got a lot of time."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tara and Daryl reached the bottom of the stairs in the foyer of the Barrington house, heading into the office where everyone was set up, scattered around eating from paper plates.

"hey you two come eat!" Maggie looked up from her spot on the couch next to Paul, motioning to the assortment of foods on the office desk. They got their food and settled, Daryl up against the wall next to Pauls side of the couch. Although the family was incomplete, it reminded him of their first days in Alexandria and sitting around in the living room of the house. It made him happy seeing the people he loved laugh and smile.

And just like every gathering, he left early to go back to his trailer, but stopping to actually say small good nights to people. 

When he got to the trailer he went straight to shower. Looking in the mirror he was he was still wearing the crown Paul made him, a few flowers all shriveled up already. He'd noticed Paul had still been wearing his too. He couldnt help but to laugh a little.

After he showered he carried his clothes back to his room, and changed into a shirt and the sweatpants Paul let him borrow. He held the flower crown in his hands as he sat at the edge of his bed and smiled once more. Getting up, Daryl took the crown and hung it on a naked nail on the wall. Stepping back he admired the his new decor and turned to leave his room. Daryl walked down the hall to Pauls closed door, he wasnt home yet, and Daryl wondered if he'd be mad about Daryl sleeping in his bed again.

"fuck it" Daryl grumbled and went in. The covers had been in the same place from where daryl left them this morning. He crawled under the covers and relaxed. The days events flew through his mind, so much had happened and he was exhausted. Soon, Daryl drifted off to sleep.

He awake to the bedroom door closing and Paul shuffling around in the dark. He stumbled and stubbed his toe on his desk,

"fuck!" Paul whisper yelled. Daryl snickered.

"you call yerself a ninja?"

"Daryl! you're awake? did i wake you up?" Paul moved to sit on the bed, getting under the covers next to Daryl.

"yeah but, i don care." He rolled over to look at Paul, who was shirtless. There was a long comfortable silence, as they stared at eachother in the moonlight.

"you okay from today?" Paul broke the silence.

"yeah, m good" Daryl nodded. Paul reached a hand over to the older man and ran his fingers through his hair

"i could tell you liked when i played with your hair today." Paul knew daryl was blushing, and moved his hand to cup his red hot cheek."goodnight"

"night."

Paul shifted so his bare back faced Daryl. Daryl stared at it, jealously thinking about how there wasnt a single mark on it. He hesitantly reached a hand out and placed it in the middle of pauls back. To which Paul shuddered, causing Daryl to pull his hand back fast.

"youre hands are cold." The younger man whispered and they both laughed. "its okay though i dont mind."

And so paul fell asleep to Daryls finger tips exploring up and down his back. Daryl dozing off not long after.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning the new couple shared a quick, sweet embrace before setting out to meet the Alexandrian's, who were prepping to leave, over by their RV.

As they all said their goodbyes rick laid a hand on Daryls shoulder,

"Still gotta find a lot more guns. Dont know when we will be back." Daryl looked up from his feet to meet Rick's eyes and nodded, Rick bringing him into a hug. When he stepped back he put both his hands on Daryls shoulders

"im sorry for leaving you behind. I know it sucks but i need to make sure you stay alive brother." Daryl nodded again. He liked it when Rick called him brother.

"not as bad as i made it out to be. Pa- Jesus is a good guy." Rick looked taken back and smiled.

"thought you thought he was a prick?" Rick placed his hands on his belt.

"at first yeah but, nuh, not anymore." 

Daryl said goodbye to the rest and watched the gates close behind the RV. It wasnt fun seeing half his family leave but he knew they couldn't stay forever. He turned back to paul who was talking to Maggie and Sasha. He lingered behind the shorter man and looked at the bun in his hair, he always liked when paul wore it like that. Daryls eyes moved to look at the nape of Paul's neck, but he must have felt Daryl staring because he turned to look the taller man in the eyes. 

"Daryl?" He noticed the others were looking at him too, and chewed on his thumb.

"hm?"

"Maggie wanted to know if you wanted to help her out in the garden today?" Paul reached up to grab Daryls hand, to make him stop chewing this thumb, and dropped it at his side.

"yeah s'fine."

Sasha and Maggie looked at eachother and raised a brow.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a few hours of work, and light conversation with Maggie in the garden, Daryl sat in the shade on a picnic table, fooling around with his crossbow. He had a nice afternoon with Maggie, it felt like more play than work, she had always been easy to chat and hang out with. She had made a few comments about him and Paul that made him blush, to which he told her to fuck off playfully. She could tell he was finally able to open up with someone and was happy for him. But Daryl knew Maggie was working herself too hard. He was glad Maggie asked him to help out in the garden because there was no way she should have been doing it all on her own, with the baby and all. Daryl knew she was only working to avoid her thoughts and feelings, but decided maybe it wasn't the best time to bring that-

His thoughts were interrupted by yelling from the front gates,

"The Saviors are here!"

Daryl got up and ran to find Paul and Maggie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be BIG! ;)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ive decided it would be best to end the fic here. I'll definatly write more fics and perhaps AUs after the season finale, but its hard to keep it going while episodes are coming out, and im happy with ending it here anyways!! thanks everyone xoxo

Paul's eyes shot up to look at Maggie, who was sitting across from him on the steps of his trailer. They both jumped up and ran towards the Barrington house full speed. Luckily they bumped into Daryl on the way.

"you two need to hide, now!" Paul grabbed Daryl's hand and led him and Maggie inside the house, and up the stairs. 

They raced through the house and barged into a random room. Paul opened up the closet door and motioned for them to get in, handing Maggie a knife.

"here get in, and don't come out until i come get you." Maggie and Daryl nodded at Paul. He started closing the door but was stopped by a hand. Daryl stood in front of maggie halfway in the closet and looked at Paul with an intense stare before moving to wrap his arms around the smaller man.

"be careful." Daryl whispered. Paul hugged Daryl back.

"i'll be back, you guys will be fine. i promise." They untangled themselves and Paul stepped back to look at the older man.

"Jesus! where are you?" Gregory called for him from downstairs. Daryl moved back into the closet, shutting the door, and Paul ran downstairs to the office. 

The closet was dark and the only noise the two heard was their ragged breaths. After some time Daryl heard the front door downstairs open and he drew his knife. The small space suddenly becoming silent. The Barrington house was old so the doors were wonky, and there was a small space between the door jam and door that you could see out of if you peeked your eye next to it. A small sliver if light shine through.

They listened closely to people shuffling into the foyer, and some conversation. After a few minutes they heard a familiar voice boom throughout the house. 

"well, we are just going to have to see arent we? my men are going to look around if you dont mind." Simons voice sounded sinister. He probably had that stupid grin on his face, Daryl thought. He could feel Maggies hand on his shoulder. His only concern at this point was making sure she would be okay, that if the saviors found them. He turned to look at her.

"if they open this door im gonna charge out, i want you to-" Maggie cut him off

"Daryl no. you dont need to-" And then Daryl cut her off.

"Nuh Maggie listen to me. theres a window on the wall to the left of this closet, i unlocked it when we came in and it faces the back of the community, I will charge at whoever it is and i want you to open the window and jump onto the roof below, you should be able to move across the roof without anyone seeing you, and drop down and hide in the trees behind the Barrington, just. do what you can to get out of here okay." He whispered

Daryl didn't need too much light to know there were tears welling in Maggies eyes. She hadnt ever been the one to get emotional when they were stuck in a bad situation. She'd always kept it together. He heard her sniffle in the dark.

"they might not find us. And if they do im not leaving you Daryl. I lost Glenn not you too. We can fight together, if they open this door." The mention of Glenn made Daryls chest feel tight, and he just grunted in return. 

Simons whistle could be heard and they heard footsteps flood throughout the house. Maggie covered her mouth with her hand, and Daryl peeked to see if anyone was out there.

They waited for what felt like hours, but what was only minutes, before the door to the room opened, revealing a scrawny biker-like dude with a goatee and bandanna wrapped around his head. His hand was on his gun holster as he slowly made his way into the room, boots clunking as he did. Daryl felt Maggies hand grasp the fabric of his shirt.

The man looked around the room and his eyes landed on the bed. He flopped down on his back and let out a sigh. He lie there for while before getting up and looking towards the closet. As he walked over, something caught his eye out the window and he stood in front of it. He mumbled something about the view and put his hands on his hips. 

Daryl wasn't paying attention and almost dropped his knife, causing it to scrape the inside of the door. The mans head shot in the direction of the closet and he put his hand back on his gun. He walked towards the closet and stopped in front of it, he was looking at something, but Daryl couldnt make out what he was looking at, but he got ready to fight.

"the fuck?" the man said quietly, "Hey Jim, someone get yer ass in here we got somethin!" Another man, presumably Jim, strolled into the room and stopped next to the scrawny one. 

"well look what we got here." Jim picked up a magazine form the floor. It was a playboy. "we gon have to take this for ourselves arent we now." The men laughed. Jim left and the other continued looking through the magazine. Soon, whistle flooded the house once more.

"lets go boys you snooze you loose we gotta go!" Simons voice boomed through the house once more and the men hurried out of the room.

Maggie and Daryl both let out a breath. They leaned back on the walls of the closet and Maggie smiled. Not long after the door to the bedroom opened again. Daryl was about to open the door and greet Paul when they heard the voice of the scrawny biker man and his friend again.

"hurry up man see if there are any more!" one of them laughed. They could hear the two rummaging around in drawers. Daryl snuck a peek out the closet. They had turned dresser drawers upside down and thrown belongings everywhere. There was a third person creeping in the doorway. It was Paul.

 

"you check the closet?" The larger one, moved towards them. Maggies breath was shaky behind Daryl.

"nah, but aha!" He stood up from the other side of the bed with more magazines," motherload, we better hit it or simon will have our asses." The two Saviors shuffled out the room, pushing passed Paul in the hallway, who followed back down the hall.

Daryl turned back to look at maggie who was wide eyed.

"oh my god." she breathed.

Finally, after hours of being in the closet, Paul came into the room.

"its me come out." Daryl and maggie crept out, squinting their eyes at the brightness of the room. Paul rushed over to Daryl, almost tripping over the stuff thrown on the floor, and wrapped his arms around him.

"oh my god oh my god that was so close." He let go and put a hand on Daryls cheek, "i'd be lying if i said i wasnt scared the entire time."

Daryl leaned into the touch and put his hand over Pauls. 

"m' okay, s' okay."

"ahem." Maggie cleared her throat, she was standing in the doorway."im okay too you know." She smiled.

"Maggie of course!"Paul ran over and gave her a hug. "im glad youre okay too, now, We uh, have a lot of work to do... lots of stuff to clean up." Daryl and Maggie traded confused glances as they followed Paul out of the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hilltop was a wreck. The Saviors had gone through everyone's trailers, and completely wrecked them. Breaking doors, windows, tables, chairs, plates, everything. They tore down clothing lines, ripping shirts and pants, and had even stomped some of the crops that provided for them. 

"oh my god.." Maggie stood and looked around and ran a hand through her hair, she was mad. 

"those jackasses messed all our shit up, and expect the same amount of goods for the next pickup." Sasha said as she walked up to the group. "Enid is in the trailer picking things up, Y'all better go look at your trailer." She motioned towards Paul and Daryl. Paul nodded and they all parted ways.

When the two got to the trailer, it was a mess. "oh no." Paul shook his head and went up the stairs.

The table was flipped and one of the chairs' legs had been broken off. One of the shelves with Pauls knick knacks from runs had been pushed over, and the other had its contents pushed onto the floor. Some ceramic pieces were shattered on the floor. Daryl moved into his bedroom, the bed was completely missing. In the center of the room was the shriveled flower crown Paul had made him, that was hanging on a hook in the wall. It had been completely trampled and smashed. He leaned down to pick it up and held it in his hands. The saviors never failed to tarnish and hurt the things he loved. Well, at least now him and Paul had no choice but to share a bed. He smirked at that thought.

Daryl left him room and went into his partners, where he found paul standing next to his bed, back turned to him. Paul turned around and held a broken record in his hand, tears welling in his eyes.

"they broke The Who." he paused,"And all the rest of them..."

Pauls hands fell to his sides, dropping the pieces of his records. He sat on the edge of his bed, holding his head in his hands. Daryl walked over and sat next to him. A slight breeze filled the room and Daryl noticed the window had been shattered. He hesitantly placed an arm around Paul, who looked up with red puffy eyes and huddled against him. 

"looks like youre gonna have a lot of work to do the next few days, handy man." Paul sniffled.

"heh, yeah. We should start cleanin'" Daryl huffed.

"yeah."

As they cleaned, Daryl couldnt help the anger that fumed inside him. How could they just do that without mercy? The stupid saviors had taken so much from everyone and still expect more in return! He didnt understand.. well he did. He knew exactly why they did it. Survival, it was the only thing that mattered to anyone anymore. They were all just walking stomachs at this point, fighting to keep food around. It wasnt fair, and it wasnt right but, Daryl knew why.

All throughout the afternoon and into the night they cleaned up, and patched the window, and fixed the door. The usually Blabber mouth Paul hadnt said a word, not even when they ate dinner.

Daryl freshened up in the bathroom before bed, all the hiding, stressing, and cleaning today ad made him stink, and he was sure he'd have a lot to do tomorrow. He put on a pair of sweatpants and looked in the bathroom mirror. He had forgotten a shirt, but decided maybe he didnt look half bad without one on. He thought it might be weird if he walked around shirtless but remembered Paul did it sometimes, and maybe it would be okay. He walked out of the bathroom and found Paul totally wiped out on the sofa.

Daryl nudged him with his knee, but got no response. Damn, he thought, son of a bitch is out. And then, he got on idea. Daryl leaned down and lifted Paul up over his shoulder.  
A quick yelp came from the younger mans mouth as he awoke. 

"Daryl!! put me down you buffoon!" Paul laughed as Daryl carried him to their room.

"hey i didnt know you had tattoos on your....back..." This was it, now he knew. "Daryl, put me down." And Daryl did, with a grunt. He set paul on the bed, and stepped back. For once he hadnt even thought about his back. Fuck.

"turn around." Paul stood up. Daryl shook his head.

"As much as i love the front view and could stare at it for hours, Daryl, please turn around." Paul places a hand on Daryls chest. Daryl looked down at his feet, and turned around slowly.

What once was gashed and burn marks were now thick, pink and brown scars scattered across Daryls back.

"is it okay if i touch them?" Paul sad quietly. Daryl took a deep breath and nodded.

"m' dad-" Daryl started.

"you dont have to say how or why. its okay." He reached a hand up and traced each one. Daryl's breath was shaky.He was vulnerable once again. But like the last time it was a comfortable vulnerability. He knew he was loved by Paul. Daryl turned around to face him.

"these dont change how i think of you Daryl. I still really like you, no matter what." Paul gave him a sweet smile and reached up to kiss his cheek. "now lets get to bed we have a long day tomorrow."

Daryl crawled into bed and Paul turned out the light, shuffling back to the bed in the dark. When he laid down, he noticed Daryl was closer. The gap that usually lie between then had been closed. As Paul settled, Daryl scooted even closer to him, and draped his arm over Paul's waist.

"goodnight Daryl." Paul said sweetly.

"goodnight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♥


End file.
